Joe Biden Asks US Court Of Appeals To Cancel Orders To Restrict Communications With Social Media

JAKARTA - President Joe Biden's administration has asked the US federal appeals court to revoke an order that explicitly limits the communication between government officials and social media companies. This was carried out in a lawsuit accusing US officials of trying to censor certain views on COVID-19 and other topics online, as the lawsuit was ongoing in court.

In a lawsuit late Tuesday against the United States Court of Appeals for New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit, the Biden administration argued that lower-level court judge's decision on July 4 was too broad and would harm the government's ability to counter disinformation on platforms in crisis situations.

"The government cannot punish people for expressing different views," the lawyer wrote to the administration of US President Joe Biden. "But there are clear categorical differences between persuasion and coercion. The government should be allowed to try to convince people of its views, even if that view becomes the subject of controversy."

US District Judge Terry Doughty at Monroe, Louisiana, stated in his order on July 4 that federal officials violated the right to free speech under the First Amendment to the US Constitution when they began asking social media companies such as Google's Facebook and YouTube around 2019 to limit the spread of shipments deemed disinformation.

The interim order of the judge is in effect in a lawsuit filed by Republican attorneys from Louisiana and Missouri. Their office has not responded to a request for comment.

The lawsuit in May 2022 states that US government officials, both under Democratic President Joe Biden and his Republican predecessor Donald Trump, effectively forced social media companies to censor shipments over concerns that the posts would reinforce doubts about vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic or disrupt elections.

A panel of the three judges of the Fifth Circuit Court is expected to hear the case next month.

Doughty's order was temporarily suspended, but previously limited government agencies, including the Department of Health and Humanitarian Services as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation, to communicate with social media companies "with the aim of encouraging, encouraging, putting pressure on, or influencing in any way the removal, removal, suppression, or reduction of content containing protected free speech" under the First Amendment, with limited exceptions.